A road safety campaigner says it's "unacceptable" and "worrying" that checks on lifts at NCT centres only took place after problems were identified in the north.
Initial checks last week found cracking in at least one lift, leading to the suspension of underbody testing at all 47 centres.
The National Car Testing Service says new lifts at 14 centres should be operating by this coming week.
Susan Grey from road safety group PARC says it's a concern the problem was only found after being highlighted in the north.
Meanwhile, in correspondence seen by Beat news, a letter to NCT centre staff reads;
"In a single lane centre if the vehicle passes on all other aspects of the test then issue a full test refund and re-schedule for a free retest. Remember if the faulty equipment is the lift ensure you enter the visual defect. "Underbody Inspection not Completed."
Snippet above taken from 'Defective Equipment' document
Speaking to Beat News, a staff member from the NCT says, "it feels wrong to charge people. Not only because we've to ask them to come back again, but because we wouldn't usually charge anything in cases like this."
The NCT Service says under-body vehicle inspections will resume this week at eight nationwide test centres. The eight centres to resume inspections include Galway, Cork, Limerick and Letterkenny after new lifts were delivered.
In addition Enniscorthy in Co.Wexford is among six others to be announced on Friday as well as Deansgrange, Ballinasloe, Athlone, Skibbereen and Ballina.
For the rest of the country, the outlined process continues to add pressure on the system as it creates backlog.
Beat News has contacted the NCT for a comment and awaiting a reply.
